Una Lutta D'Amanti
by Jeune Ecrivain
Summary: In this snippet from a longer story (entitled “For All Time”) I posted on FictionPress.com, Juliet confronts Romeo about Rosaline. To add a dash of authenticity, all names have been Italianized.


**Una Lutta d'Amanti**

**By Jeune Ecrivain**

**Rating: PG**

**Summary: In this snippet from a longer story (entitled "For All Time") I posted on , Juliet confronts Romeo about Rosaline. To add a dash of authenticity, all names have been Italianized.**

Giulietta, daughter of the Signore Cappioletta, sat quietly in her bedchambers, contentedly executing the needlework that would produce a new bonnet for her nurse. Her wide blue eyes showed concentration, and her black hair cascaded down the back and front of her bejeweled dress. Directly across from where she sat, two open doors led to a balcony, crafted of the same fine beige stone as the rest of the manor house. Just outside this balcony was a tree, one that had become of great importance to Giulietta in recent weeks. But now, she was ignorant of it.

In this tree, straddling on a thick limb and hanging on to the one above it, was Romeo. He had anxiously anticipated his daily visit to Giulietta's chambers, but had found himself content to just observe her for a time before starting what he thought would be another round of the pleasant and engaging discourse he typically had with the apple of his amorous eye.

He finally decided to make his presence known. She would undoubtedly be pleased to see him. She would look up at him with one of her radiant smiles and greet him with a giggle. He set foot on the balcony and slowly approached her.

Then, she turned and looked at him. The smile on his face halted its growth, for he could find no similar expression on hers. Giulietta regarded him knowingly but without warmth. To Romeo, this was foreign and, consequently, unsettling. "Giulietta…"he began.

In a single, swift motion she set aside her sewing and stood up to face him. "I have heard word," she said deliberately, "that you have until recently been hopelessly enamored by the celibate Rossalinda."

Romeo felt some relief. The reason for her coldness was now obvious, and he felt that he could easily abate it. "If you question my fidelity, it is in vain. It is true. Rossalinda did capture my fancy. But she did not capture my heart, as I had in lust's drunkenness believed. Fancy is a fickle thing when compared to love, such as I feel for you."

To Romeo's surprise, she was not relieved. "Tell me, sir. Were it not for Rossalinda's vow of celibacy and her subsequent refusal of your courtship, would you not have wooed her and not me?"

Romeo was puzzled. "I do not understand the pertinence of that question," he said. "It is in the past. You are the present, and the future as well."

"Yes, I am the present. But whether I am the future is questionable." Romeo opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off. "I find it curious, sir, that you did not inform me of this previous fondness for another, whereas I have kept you duly informed about the advances of the count Paride."

"I did not believe that you would care to know, nor that it would matter to you."

"Is that so?"

Romeo was becoming quite annoyed all of a sudden. "Giulietta, if you are going to continue this impertinent line of interrogation, I must ask you to speak plainly. Of what are you accusing me?"

"Impertinent?" Giulietta repeated, anger breaking through in her voice. "I think not! I am accusing you, sir, of being one of those fellows who woos not one woman, but a succession of them! When one maid fails or ceases to satisfy him or refuses him, he moves on to another! I have no means of knowing that I am not just one link in what will become an endless chain."

"You think me that shallow?" Romeo asked, his own anger rising.

"What am I to think, when it seems that you deferred to a second choice upon the refusal of your first?"

"You may have been a second choice, but you were by no means the lesser," Romeo said defensively, reminding himself to keep his voice low for fear of revealing his presence to the rest of the household. Nevertheless, his temper showed itself in his tone.

"Sweet words are bound to come from one who is, because of the multiple objects of his affection, practiced in courtship and flowery speech!" she snapped.

Romeo almost lost control and yelled at her. Instead, he spoke as loudly as he safely could. "You think all that I have said to you are mere recitations?" He shook his head incredulously. "You, of all people, should know that I am not one to indulge in overly ornate courtship monologues! I am a simple man! I say nothing that I do not mean!"

"What means do I have to know that you speak the truth?" Giulietta replied sharply. "The fact remains, had Rossalinda not refused you, you would likely have married her by now! I was a convenient deference!"

"Yes! You speak the truth! Had Rossalinda not refused me, I would likely be a wedded man this day! But the fact is, Giulietta, that's not what came to pass!" Romeo confirmed harshly. "But you know what?" he continued, his voice softening but his tone remaining angry, "From the day I met you, I have been glad that Rossalinda took that vow of celibacy! I am glad that fate placed a stone wall across a path I so thoroughly believed I wanted so that I would be compelled and at liberty to find and pursue one which I was truly meant to follow and which could make me truly happy!"

For the first time that evening, Giulietta was speechless. So, he continued. The force of his temper was causing a rapid low of words from his mouth. "And while we're on the subject of metaphorical stone walls, what of the enmity between our families? That is as insurmountable an impediment as Rossalinda's vow of celibacy! The obstacle between Rossalinda and me convinced me to abandon my pursuit of her. Why then, when faced with an obstacle of equal strength in pursuit of you, do I continue the struggle? The answer is simple: my motivation is far greater." He ended with much of his temper depleted.

Giulietta's resolve was obviously damaged, but she wasn't entirely prepared to let her guard down. "But how long did you continue your hopeless affection before you abandoned pursuit of Rossalinda? I do not get the impression that it could've been much longer than I have known you," she said, calmly but steadfastly.

"No. My fondness for Rossalinda lasted approximately a week more," Romeo admitted. "But think about it. To see Rossalinda, to be close to her, to court her was never a risk of my life. Every time I come to see you and be with you, I risk my life. To love you is a betrayal to my family. Yet, I do love you. I do risk my life just to be close to you. Why? I love you because I cannot do otherwise. I put my life in fate's hands to be close to you because you and what I feel for you are easily worth it. Rossalinda was never worth that. No one else ever will be."

Giulietta was now in tears. She sniffled, stared at him in sad awe for a moment, then rushed over to him and buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her, glad that it was over. She finally moved to pull her face up to look at him. "I'm so sorry," she said softly.

Romeo smiled gently. "Do not be sorry for wanting to know that your heart is in good hands," he whispered. "I do too."

"It is," she reassured him quietly, giving him a small smile.

"As I believed," he nodded before bringing her lips to his.


End file.
